Prairie Style inspired Coffee Table

Just completed this cherry coffee table for our living room. My wife and I enjoy Mission, Prairie and Frank Lloyd Wright style furniture and design, hence the pattern on either end, the wide overhanging top, etc. Lots of mortise and tennon joints, even on the pattern on the ends. A few half lap joints there as well. I didn’t have the guts to make real thru tennons, so those are faked, as are the pins. I finished it off with 4 coats of Tried and True Varnish Oil, first warmed to 120 F using a slow cooker water bath, then burnished after 1 hr, followed by two coats of paste wax. I’m quite happy with how this turned out. This was supposed to be the “easy” project. The next one, an entertainment center, is quite a bit more involved. Stay tuned…. :-)

This is really lovely. IMO, if you can do those angled mortises and tenons on the end design pieces, you can certainly do real through tenons! They are easier than you think, and very classy. How is the lower shelf tenoned in? All across, or in tabbed pieces? And will the upcoming entertainment center match this design? You did a great job on this. It did turn out really well. Nice work.

@barbs: I’ve already cut the aprons and their tennons for the entertainment center so I don’t be doing real thru tennons there, but perhaps I’ll get up the courage for the following project (end tables?). The reason I opted to fake it for now is that the shoulder of the caps covers any gap that might exist. That said, it’s real tricky to make those little pieces and in the end probably takes more time (but if you screw up you can just toss the little piece in the burn pile and make another).

The bottom shelf is mortise and tennoned all the way across into the side aprons. I left a little wiggle room on both sides so the shelf can expand and contract over the years as necessary.

@barbs & captainSkully: the upcoming entertainment center will try to match the style of this piece as well. I’m going for a theme here for all the furniture in our living room. So it’ll be entirely cherry with the same finish. Three glass doors will have a pattern that is similar but different than this one.

As for a blog? I dunno, I’ve never done that before, although I’ve certainly thought about it. It would allow me to post more than 6 photos, and share more of the process, although most of you would probably be frustrated by how long it takes me to complete projects. :-)